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╵┌┼┐╵ polyphanes.smol.pub
╷└┼┘╷ by polyphanes
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In Praise of Spiritual Routine

Doing big rituals and carrying out experiments is great and necessary, but the real pleasure in an occult practice—and the real progress—comes from the daily routine we do. Daily meditation, prayers, offerings, energy work, whatever? That's where the real power of the Work lies. Big rituals and experiments are like going out to a nice restaurant and feasting, or going to a competition to push yourself and win big—but the daily stuff is the meals you make and eat at home, the daily workouts you do at the gym, and that's where it really matters.

Yes, there are days where we just can't get out of bed, make a proper meal for ourselves, or go to the gym. But, well, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing poorly: better to do something than nothing. If not a full meal, a cup of yoghurt; if not a full workout, a few stretches. Doing something, literally anything, is better than doing nothing. If you can't say a whole litany of prayers, say just one; if you can't do twenty minutes of meditation, do five; if you can't do a full battery of offerings, light a candle and simply say "this is for you, thank you". If you can do more, do more; if you can't, do what you can. Don't slack off; push yourself to do what you can and more, but when you're at your limit, do only what you can and no more. That's what matters most. Do something, no matter how small, no matter how little, every day.

Of course, this isn't about doing something for the sake of doing it with no higher or broader purpose! It's doing something for the sake of everything else you're doing. Doing something just for the sake of doing it is a waste of time; this is bigger than that, much bigger! We don't work out for the sake of working out; we work out to make ourselves stronger and more capable of physical activity in general. We don't eat just to eat, we eat to give ourselves energy, keep ourselves healthy, and make sure we can stay healthy and get healthier.

We shouldn't pray merely for the sake of praying; instead, we should pray to grow closer to the Divine, to seek blessing, and make other rituals and experiments more potent
We shouldn't meditate merely for the sake of meditating; instead, we should meditate to make our minds stronger and clearer for focus, mindfulness, and intent.
We shouldn't make offerings merely for the sake of making offerings; instead, we should make offerings to maintain and grow our relationships with spirits, to build on the things we ask for and to give strength to our spirits as they give strength to us.

Customize what it is you need to do, and make sure it fulfills what you set out to do; that's all based on your own Work. So long as you progress on your path, whether it's a single step or a thousand, do something every day that progresses you on your own path, in your own Work. Likewise, for myself? On some days, I can do more than others, so I do; on other days, all I have time for is a prayer that doesn't take a minute to say. I might spend two hours or more in my temple doing whatever I can, and whatever I feel like, but on others, I might just pop in, bow, offer a quick word, and bow out. Doing something as I can, purposefully as well as meaningfully, is all so profoundly stabilizing, fortifying, and nourishing.

Besides, motivation and inspiration are great and all, but they're flighty, fickle, and untrustworthy. It's determination and discipline that really wins the race, no matter how faithless we might feel about it in the moment, no matter how small an effort we can manage to make. It's hard, and often there's little else as hard out there to keep up a routine like this, but it's worth it, especially in the face of pressure to "do more big stuff"! And yet, daily practice is just as big as anything else, just over time instead of all at once, and it makes everything else bigger and better, too. We should never lose sight of that.